Page 62 of The Autumn Wife
In the long separation, Cecile had almost forgotten how lively Genny was, so full of humor and confidence and life.
“No more dodging questions.” Cecile released her friend and picked up a knife to dig into the meat. “How did you get involved in all of this?”
Genny shrugged, took a bite of a pumpkin fritter, and spoke around it. “André and I arrived a few days ago to pick up trading supplies.” Genny dropped her knife and accepted the bread basket as it came around, taking a piece for herself and tossing a second slice on Cecile’s plate. “Our plan had been to get our business done in Montreal quietly—and we’d done that. But since the captain’s place is remote enough to be safe, I insisted on visiting Marie before heading west.”
“Ah.” Cecile glanced down the table to where Marie and Lucas bent their heads toward each other. “Marie arranged everything, didn’t she?”
“She helped, yes, but she didn’t lead the charge.” Genny’s eyes danced as she tilted her head toward the other end of the table. “Your Theo planned everything, and Etienne spread the word as far as Quebec. If the gathering of supporters hadn’t set you free at the courtroom, Theo would have abducted you from the fort. With our help.”
Genny gestured to André beside her. The two of them looked every lean inch like lifelong woods runners, fearless and up for any caper.
“To be honest,” Genny said, “I was hoping we’d get to break you out. Then we would have led you and Theo into the wild to live with us in Chequamegon Bay. I miss you, Cecile.”
“I miss you, too.” As much as she’d live anywhere with Theo, Cecile was glad the plan had gone differently. Unlike Genny, she didn’t think she would make a very good deep-wilderness wife. “The captain has offered us some land next to his. I think I’m better suited here.”
“And I’m thrilled you’ve found a place to call home. That’s what is most important, right?” With a wink, Genny deposited fried pumpkin fritters beside the bread and meat on Cecile’s plate. “Eat up, now. That’s a big man you’ve fallen in love with.”
“My goodness.” Cecile slid a glance Etienne’s way, but her son only ducked his head to hide his grin. “You and Marie, you’re both shameless.”
Genny tilted back her face, bronzed and freckled, and laughed with her mouth open. How stunning her friend was. And how happy, too, she realized, as Genny glanced back to check on her babe, snugly strapped on a cradleboard propped up against a tree.
All three King’s Girls, Cecile thought, were a thousand times blessed.
Feeling like a big floating fluffy cloud of joy, Cecile dug into the feast before her, chatting with Genny and André, noticing out of the corner of her eye how Etienne’s gaze kept shifting down the table toward a raven-haired girl about his age.
Inevitably, her own attention was drawn to Theo at the far end of the table, where it stayed.
As the meal went on, sunlight poured bright streaks across the grassy field in front of Marie’s stonecabin. The air took on a chill, the talk became softer, the sunlight more mellow, and the looks Theo cast down the long table brimmed with the kind of hungry expectation she’d thought she would see directed only at more fortunate women—and never experience herself.
More guests, welcomed by Marie, came out of the woods. Out of their rough-woven bags emerged musical instruments, some homemade, others gleaming with lacquer that could only have been brought from overseas. Soon, they filled the clearing with music, melodies of another world, another time, a beautiful idyllic place. She listened, her heart buoyed by the harmony within and without.
“Ceci.”
She turned to find Theo half bowed beside her, holding out his hand, whispering, “Dance with me.”
They whirled in circles toward an open space by the musicians. They spun about in rhythm to the ancient melodies, the dappled light fluttering over them.
The future vibrated between them, blasting away all the horrors of the past, melting away the last of the old terrors.
They might have danced for a moment, or an hour, she didn’t keep track. At one point, the musicians paused, and, with a man whisperingone, two, three,they played a new song, with wild vigor, a reel that gathered the whole company, whooping and clapping and spinning.
The first stars winked over the trees when Cecile finally stopped to catch her breath. Theo drew her away, teasing intent bright in his eyes. They’d made it halfway to the barn when Marie stepped in front of them.
“Not yet.” She seized Cecile’s arm and pulled her away. “You go on ahead to the barn, Theo. Cecile needs a moment with her friends.”
Theo released her with exaggerated reluctance—and also a gleam of humor.
After all, they had forever.
“I promise,” Marie whispered as she dragged Cecile toward the main cabin, “I won’t detain you for long—and you’ll thank me, after.”
Inside the cabin, Marie led her to the bedroom where Genny, sprawled cross-legged on Marie’s bed, jumped to her feet. Marie shut the door.
Cecile realized all at once that the three of them were alone together for the very first timeever.
Cecile looked at each of them, eyes narrowing. “What mischief is this?”
“No mischief.” Marie grinned. “It’s our job to make you presentable for your wedding night.”
